Now, a lot of our clubs and teams probably go to regional tournaments, so if Mock Trial isn’t your jam– don’t worry there’s regionals/tournaments for just about anything else on campus, but in this blog I’ll give some insights about what it’s like to compete in a club and tournaments during the year.
I’m writing this the night after getting back from our regional tournament at Connecticut College! We– or at least I hope everyone else did too– had a great time, and although we won’t be continuing our season (sad), the team is proud of how we performed– shout out to our amazing upperclassmen that made it happen.
For the tournaments I’ve been to, mock trial and other clubs, you’ll usually leave Friday night after classes– if you have any– and get to your hotel that night. You can expect to spend Saturday and maybe Sunday competing and then get back home to campus Sunday afternoon/evening. Don’t hold me to that schedule, that is just the most often timeline I’ve experienced, and I think it is a good look at what you can expect. Now, if I’m honest, tournaments during the academic year are exhausting, and regionals was no exception. If you plan on participating in a club or team at Amherst, be ready to figure some system to get your work done– unless you’re a certain member of our team who may have not started their 4 page paper until Sunday night. But, just know, it is possible to balance the workload and a weekend you don’t do work– and don’t bank on getting work done in car rides, they tend to get lively and that plan has almost always failed me.
You’ll spend a lot of hours throughout the semester getting to know the other people on your team, and when you get to the end, it’s sort of bittersweet. It’s great to have something you can be proud of at the end of the season too, like all our members who got individual awards and especially our spirit award! Having a tournament like regionals where you can give it your all one last time is a great experience that I genuinely think you should all try and experience if you have any interest at all. You get to travel to another cool college campus with that group you got close to (plus see friends from that school if you know someone who went there), meet other people from local schools, and compete for something you’ve worked for all semester!
Thanks for reading! And if you wanna reach out for whatever reason, my email is jdesmond28@amherst.edu